Kampfer: Refocused
by TLoZTFH
Summary: The story of another community that hosts the ongoing war between red and blue. A new protagonist, and obviously a lot of new other characters, plus a few old ones later on, is determined to take the fight to the Moderators and get his bracelet taken off, even if he dies trying. Yuri, violence, adult themes, etc.
1. Chapter 1

_Kampfer: Refocused_

Now, I know why you're here. You're here because you want to hear about Senou Natsuru and his entourage of females. I mean, if you didn't, why click on this story in the first place?

Let's pretend for a moment.

Let's pretend that you don't know anything about Kampfer; about the proxy war; about Senou Natsuru and the aforementioned group of females.

Let's pretend you're an average, sixteen-year old, ADHD, American tenth grader guy from western Michigan. A guy who's semi-average; brown hair and brown eyes, somewhat tan skin, the occasional mole. A guy who likes video games and anime and has never really had a crush on anyone.

Still following me?

Good.

Now, let's assume that one Saturday in the middle of spring, you wake up, go through your usual routine of eating, taking ADHD pills, then going to the bathroom to take a shower.

Let's assume you look in the mirror, and, still half-asleep, you see someone who is definitely _not_ the average, sixteen-year old, ADHD, American tenth grader guy from western Michigan. Instead, you see an unusual-looking, purple-haired, red-eyed, pale-skinned, eighteen-year old girl who you've not only never seen before, but is also instantly your first huge crush.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, this is me we're pretending to be.

As you can probably guess, my reaction was... less than calm.

Loosely put, I flipped out.

"What the fuck?!" I shouted, slamming hands down on the counter of the bathroom and staring in shock at my reflection. (Glad my mother was out for this - she'd have been horrified at my language. Luckily, she's never home because she works two jobs).

As I paced back and forth in the bathroom, I noticed something red on my right wrist. I brought my wrist to eye level and surveyed what was there.

It was a cheap-looking plastic bracelet, which, like I said, was red. I frowned, not having remembered seeing anything like it before it my life. However, try as I might, I couldn't remove the damn thing.

"The hell...?" I muttered.

Forgetting the bracelet for the moment, I went back to pacing, trying to figure out why I had suddenly switched genders. I was subconsciously wondering about my clothes as well; I had been wearing a camoflauge-patterned nightrobe (shut up, they're comfortable!) and boxers. Somehow they had morphed into a simple white nightrobe and a white bra and panties.

I didn't dare to take off my clothes. I'd seen plenty of girls naked on the internet, but this was different.

Suddenly I heard a muffled banging and voice coming from the linen closet. Curious, I walked over to it and opened the door.

From one of the shelves, a stuffed animal fell to the ground. I picked it up and looked at it critically.

It was without a doubt the ugliest stuffed animal I'd ever seen. I guessed that it was supposed to be some sort of deer, but its antlers were designed to look like they'd been torn off, across its face was a tire track, and some sort of fake intestines were coming from its stomach.

One word came to mind...

"Ew..." I groaned, tossing the thing aside while wondering why we had such a disgusting thing in our linen closet.

"OW!"

I nearly jumped a foot in the air when I heard the voice, slowly turnning around, dreading whatever had made the noise. I looked down.

The deer-thing was standing. I mean, _standing._ On two legs. And it was waving at me.

"That was rude! How could you just toss me aside like that, Aaron-san?!" It questioned angrily in Japanese (which I only understood because of the gratuitous amounts of anime I watched). "I, the great Run-Over Buck, am not some toy to be thrown around as you please!"

I squatted down, squinting. "Did you just... talk?" I asked in confusion, poking it in the side. My day was getting weirder and more confusing by the minute.

The "Run-Over Buck" hit me on the thigh with one of its short, stubby arms and spoke again. "Of course I did, _baka_! Now, are you going to listen to what I have to say or not?!"

Not even pausing to wonder why it was speaking in Japanese or consider the insanity that was happening, I decided to just go with it and sat down on the floor cross-legged.

What it told me next, you already know, I'm sure; all the stuff about Kampfer, the different fighting styles, red vs. blue, and all the rest of it.

So there I was, sitting on the floor of my bathroom at 10 A.M. on a Saturday morning, listening to a stuffed animal as it explained that I needed to fight random people with blue bracelets, and that I'd become a girl when I did so.

Then, the thought finally hit me;

_This is definitely a dream._

"So... um... Run-Over Buck, or whatever your name is," I began. "When do I get to change back?"

Instead of responding verbally, it suddenly jumped up and dealt a surprisingly strong blow to the face, sending me to the floor. The next thing I saw was a blur of brown.

_**Kampfer**_

When I woke up, I was laying on the bathroom floor in my usual camoflauge-patterned robe and boxers. The stuffed deer was nowhere to be seen. I stood up, looking in the mirror.

Everything was normal.

_Just a dream..._

The clock above the bathroom mirror read 11 A.M.. I shrugged, the question as to why I fell asleep in the bathroom never crossing my mind, undressing and stepping into the shower.

When I had finished, I put my robe on again and went to my room to dress myself. Throwing on a t-shirt from American Eagle and a pair of jeans, I put on my shoes and left the house.

It was almost summer break, a fact I was extremely grateful for. The air was warm as I walked down the street to my best friend Jordan's house.

Jordan's about half a year older than me, and is a junior in high school. He's tall and thin, like me, and has blond hair and blue eyes. For some reason, all the girls have always flocked to him. I asked him once why the girls found him so attractive, and all he did was shrug cluelessly. See, Jordan's the kind of guy that girls like until he opens his mouth. The poor guy is deathly afraid of talking to girls, and he stumbles through his words when he does.

The two of us met way back when I was in first grade and he was in second. See, we'd both gone to a private school where the grades were split into twos instead of just ones. First and second grade were taught by the the same guy. We'd become friends pretty quickly for some reason, me being the loudmouth I was, and him the quiet one (until there were no adults around, of course). When I became friends with Jordanl, I automatically made three other friends as well; Josh, Devon, and Ethan.

Josh was born in Saudi Arabia, and his mother immigrated when he was a few months old. He was tan-skinned and dark-haired as you'd expect. For some reason, he left our school for public school in fifth grade.

Devon's a lot like Jordan; he's hardworking, knows when to shut up without being too quiet, and he's tall. The guy has brownish-blond hair and blue eyes that don't seem to focus on any one thing for too long. He's also extremely funny and good at making jokes.

Ethan's the other one. He's smart, quiet, and when he talks, people listen. He and Devon had a closer friendship, like Jordan and I, but we were all a group. He used to be a bit overweight, but in the summer between eighth and ninth grades, he lost a lot of it, to be replaced by muscle.

Anyway, I was walking to Jordan's house to get him; we'd planned to go to the nearby city park and play a bit of basketball. When I got there, he was waiting for me, and we started off towards the park, making casual conversation as we went.

"Sup, man?" I asked as he joined me. He shrugged.

"Not much, really. Lots of homework, not much else. You?"

I shook my head, grinning. "Nothing that you'd be interested in, at least. So, you ready to get your ass whooped by my mad skills?" I asked jokingly; he'd always been better than me at basketball, by far.

"If by getting my ass whooped, you mean your own, yeah." He responded, laughing.

"Sick burn." I acknowledged. We were silent for a bit before he spoke up again.

"Hey, what's on your wrist?" He asked. I held up my wrist and groaned.

The red bracelet was still there! I'd completely forgotten about the damn thing after I woke up.

"Uh... It was a gift from my mom." I lied.

"Where'd she get it? It's kinda cool."

"I dunno. Maybe Wal-Mart or something."

As I said this, we reached the park, and I was glad to change the subject as he passed me the ball.

"Half-court or full?" I questioned. He thought for a second.

"Let's go half." He decided. I passed the ball to him so he could check it, then he passed it back and I started dribbling back and forth, so ready to take him on.

"All right, you ready for this?" I joked. He laughed.

"Bring it on, little man."

We played for a little while before taking a break. He had a solid five-to-two lead on me by then.

"Good playing. You been practicing?" He asked. I nodded.

"Here and there, yeah."

Suddenly, a car horn sounded from the nearby intersection, followed by a sound incredibly reminiscent of someone hitting a sheet of metal with a hammer. The two of us jogged over, joining a couple other bystanders looking at the car crash.

It looked like one car had broadsided the other at full speed. Nearby, a guy was speaking on his cell phone, no doubt calling 911.

As the crowd thickened, the bracelet on my wrist started to glow slightly. I seemed to be the only one to notice it. It began to flash, slow at first, then faster and faster. I recalled what Run-Over Buck had told me before.

_Your bracelet will start to glow when other Kampfer are nearby, and you'll transform soon after that, so make sure to find a safe place to do it, idiot!_

Pushing my way out of the now sizable crowd, I ran for the doors of the nearby elementary school. The city we lived in, Roosevelt Park, was relatively peaceful, so the school's doors were unlocked more often than not.

Ducking into a random classroom, I was blinded by a red flash of light and felt my body start to change. My hair began to lengthen, my chest ballooned outwards, and my legs became slender and more shapely. What happened next was slightly uncomfortable, as you can imagine, so I'll leave it to your imagination.

When I opened my eyes, I was wearing a black skirt and a white blouse. I looked in a window and saw the faint reflection of the woman from this morning.

_Fuck! It wasn't a dream after all!_ I thought, exiting the classroom and running out the back door of the school to avoid attention. _But where is she?_

My question was soon answered when I heard a gunshot, and a nearby car exploded, knocking me to the ground.

"All right, bitch! Where the fuck are you, you stupid whore?!" A girl's voice shouted from nearby. I looked around, spotting her on the limb of a nearby tree.

She was wearing the exact same clothing as me. Her hair was blue and came down to her waist. In her hands she was holding an M16. An actual, military-style, M16!

She noticed me on the ground a few seconds later, and smirked. "There you are, ya fuckin' shithead! Now stay still so I can blow your brains out, bitch!"

"Wait-" I began as she pulled the trigger.

What happened next is hard to describe. On instinct, I moved, and when I did, it was with speed I'd never known I'd had. I dodged the spray of bullets, landing on the roof of the school. The other girl grimaced.

"Tch. How fuckin' fast are ya anyway, bitch?! I told ya to fuckin' stay still, so fuckin' stay still!" She said, letting loose another spray of bullets. I dodged again, and, the next thing I knew, my hand felt cold, and something like a black ball suddenly appeared in it, then I instinctively raised my arm and let it go.

The ball of whatever it was hit her in the stomach full force, slamming her against the tree trunk. A small amount of blood left her mouth. In the distance, I heard sirens. Whether they were for the car wreck or our fight, I didn't know, but the other girl seemed to hear them too.

"Shit. Whatever! I'm sure we'll fight again, and next time, I'll put fifty new fuckin' holes in that pretty face of yours, bitch!"

Without another word, she swung down from the branch and took off running. I tried to follow, but I hadn't noticed that while we were fighting, she managed to hit me in the foot, preventing me from pursuing her.

Climbing down from the roof, I limped home and went to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet above the toilet, grabbing a roll of medical tape and sitting down to begin bandaging my foot.

"You can come out now, Buck." I said wearily, sure it was hiding somewhere near. Sure enough, the cabinet under the bathroom sink opened, and the stuffed animal came out.

"Seems like someone got in their first fight already, and survived. I don't know how you managed to, but you did good for such a huge moron!"

A vein bulged in my forehead, and I glared down at it. "You wanna start something, you little ball of fluff?" I asked menacingly. It quickly shook its head, climbing up onto my lap and patting me on the leg.

"You did pretty good after all, even if it was you." It told me.

"Um... thanks, I guess?" I responded, unsure whether it meant that as a compliment or not.

I finished bandaging the wound, taking the bullet and throwing into the next door neighbors' backyard so as to take the suspicion off of myself as to why I had an injured foot - I didn't want anyone making any connections, no matter how ludicrous it would seem. Once I'd done that, I went downstairs to my room and laid down as Run-Over Buck made itself comfortable on the top of my bookshelf.

"Geez..." I moaned. "That girl swore more than an online gamer..."

For all of you who are online gamers, that should be _pretty_ significant.

"So, what happened? Did you kill her?" Run-Over Buck asked. I waved my free hand in a "no" fashion.

"Of course not. I can't just kill someone in cold blood, that's wrong."

At this moment, I was pretty sure I heard Run-Over Buck mutter something along the lines of, "Damn Christians and their morals..."

This _kind of_ set me off, seeing as I'm a Lutheran. I grabbed the thing by its intestines, twirling it around at a high speed before throwing it at the wall above my laundry basket, which it fell into.

I collapsed back onto my bed, groaning. When would I turn back into a guy? I couldn't just stay like I was and go to school; my teacher and classmates would flip out, even if I managed to convince them I was who I was.

At some point, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, it was early evening; the sun was just beginning to set.

Sleepily wandering out of my room and upstairs, I opened the fridge and looked at the meager amounts of food we had to offer. I decided to eat out; nothing quite caught my eye at the moment.

As I was putting my shoes on, I heard Run-Over Buck's voice from behind me.

"You're not seriously thinking of going out like that, are you?" It asked. I turned.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm hungry."

It shook its head as if exasperated. "You idiot. The way you look now, you're easy to recognize. No doubt someone would remember a beauty like you fighting with some other girl, not to mention there are probably several videos already on the internet. If you were seen in public now, you'd be mobbed by the media or the the law and be forced to tell them everything."

I grimaced; I knew it was right. I settled for a few potato chips and a microwaved hot dog. It was odd for me to eat so little; normally I'd eat practically half a bag of chips and an entire package of hot dogs in one meal. Figuring that it was because I was a girl now (or something), I finished my meal, took my insomnia pills, and went to bed, hoping that I'd be back to normal in the morning.

_**Kampfer**_

When I woke up, I was, like I had hoped, a guy once again. The rest of my weekend passed normally, and I returned to school on Monday, my excuse for my limp being that I dropped a knife while cutting vegetables (it was common knowledge that I like to cook among my acquaintances).

My homeroom class was made up of twenty-one other people. Nothing much happened at school until the day had nearly ended.

I was in my Life Science class, writing a paper on symbiosis and how it affects humans when my classmate, Amy, sat down next to me.

Amy's a bit strange, but strange is the norm at my school, anyway. She is average height, with naturally straight red hair and green eyes. She's rude sometimes, but she makes up for it with a good work ethic and kind heart.

Anyway, Amy sat down next to me, finished with her own paper, and I looked up, nearly done myself.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked. She was looking at my wrist curiously.

"Nothing, just wondering; where'd you get that bracelet?" Amy questioned.

"Oh, it was a gift from my mom. I don't know where she got it." I responded, shrugging.

"Where do you think? Maybe Wal-Mart? Target?" She continued. I faked considering how to respond.

"Eh... I think Wal-Mart would be your best bet." I lied.

She nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." I replied, returning to writing my paper.

School had just let out and I was walking out the door when my bracelet suddenly started flashing. I looked around in a panic.

_Why now?! There are so many people around!_

Sprinting towards the small wooded area that was part of the school's property, I ducked into a hollow tree well-known for its use in the 5th-8th graders' Capture the Flag games, letting the transformation wash over me.

When I had finished transforming, I stepped out, setting my backpack on the ground and looking around wildly for any signs of another Kampfer.

"Relax, you ADHD moron." A familiar voice said from behind me. I turned.

Amy was walking towards me, except she looked different. _Way_ different. Her hair was as white as snow now, and her eyes were a deep blue. In her right hand, she held a wicked-looking katana. On her left wrist was a red bracelet, exactly like mine. I outwardly relaxed, but I was still ready just in case.

"Amy? You're a Kampfer?" I asked stupidly. She rolled her eyes.

"No, I can just change my appearance and magically acquire a sword at will. Of course I am, idiot."

"Why are you here?" I questioned. She smirked.

"Isn't it obvious? The reason I came up to you in school was to see if you were really a Kampfer or not. No offense, but you're not the best liar; you pretty much confirmed my theory the instant you started talking. I didn't want to reveal myself in the middle of class, so I waited until school was over. We're both red, so we have to work together from now on."

I nodded. "I know. How long have you been a Kampfer?"

She paused for a moment, thinking. "...About four months, now. Since my birthday in February. I presume you are quite new?"

I scratched my head nervously. "I became one this Saturday."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me... you were one of the ones fighting near the elementary school, weren't you?"

I looked away. "...Yeah."

She sighed, crossing her arms. "I'm glad you survived. It was only your first day, too... You're a Zauber, aren't you?" She asked, meaning my use of magic back at the elementary school.

"I... think so." I responded, remembering how I had made the weird black thing appear from nowhere.

"I got lucky, then. Zaubers are rare, apparently." She sat on a fallen log, motioning for me to sit down next to her. I did so hesitantly.

"All right, look." She began. I looked at her. "I really don't like fighting, and the thought of killing someone makes me sick. If we run into any blue Kampfer, we need to try and call a truce to find out exactly _why_ we have to fight. Agreed?"

I nodded silently.

"Listen, you got lucky on Saturday, but you probably won't be so lucky when you get attacked again. You need to train." She said. "I haven't been in a fight yet, but I decided when I got into all this that I'd train so I could be prepared. I've yet to practice against another Kampfer, so we can both get something out of this."

"Wait!" I protested. "But I don't even know how to use my powers! How can I practice?"

She stood. "Simple."

Then next thing I knew, the tip of her katana was dangerously close to my neck. "If you want to live, you're going to have to learn to do more than just run away."

_**Kampfer**_

"Ow..." I collapsed on my bed, aching all over.

It had been almost a week since I'd first become a Kampfer. I'd learned the basics of my new power, but I still came out from Amy's training session tired and battered. She moved faster than I thought humanly possible, and definitely much faster than me. We'd been training after school at a nearby state park, far off the trails so as to avoid any unwanted attention.

The other Kampfer I'd encountered was nowhere to be found, although I was continuously looking at other people's wrists just in case. It seemed she was trying to avoid attention just as much as we were.

I'd been lucky during the past week that I always transformed back before school started in the morning, although I'd had a close call that same morning, transforming back when I was on my way out the door. I still had no idea how to control my transformation, and Amy had told me that I'd probably have to take more than a few sick days when I stayed transformed, as she'd only recently learned how to control it herself (which would explain the fact that, yes, she had had an unusually high number of absent days).

At any rate, I way laying there, thanking the Lord that it was finally Friday, when my phone rang. Stupidly, I picked up without looking at who was calling.

"Hello?" I asked sleepily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must've dialed the wrong number. I was looking for Aaron Johnson..." Jordan's voice came through. My eyes widened as I realized the huge mistake I'd just made.

"Um... he's out right now." I lied quickly.

"Then who is this?" Jordan questioned curiously.

"His cousin..." I paused for a second, trying to think of an appropriate name to go with my appearance; among other things, I loved to write stories, expecially ones styled after anime-like characters. I smiled when I finally recalled a character I'd once thought of with similar traits as me. "...Medea."

"Really? He didn't tell me he had any cousins visiting. Ah, well. When he gets back, could you ask him if he wants to go play some basketball with Jordan tomorrow?"

"Sure..." I told him, covering my eyes with my forearm.

"Thanks." He hung up, and I let out a massive sigh of relief, placing my phone on my nightstand and rolling over in bed, hoping that I'd transform back in time to go with Jordan.

"That was close." A voice said from my doorway. I sighed, not even bothering to wonder how Amy got into my house.

"Your point?"

"You're going to need to hold on to that name, now that you've told one person. Hopefully, he won't tell anyone, but if he does, you'd better be prepared to have a whole fake bio ready."

"Can't be too hard..." I mumbled. "Why are you here?"

"I decided that since we're both relatively new to this, we should stick together. So, from now on, I'm sleeping here."

"Oh, okay." I responded tiredly.

Admittedly, this took a couple seconds, but hey, I was _tired_.

"WHAT?!" I shouted, sitting up. "NO WAY IN HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING IN MY HOUSE!"

She smirked, walking over to my bed and climbing onto it. "Why not?" She asked quietly, pushing me downwards onto the bed. I blushed as she placed her hands on either side of me, trapping me. She leaned in close to my ear and blew on it softly, before whispering, "We're both girls, after all..."

She was about to reach under my shirt when I gained some courage and caught her hand. "Amy." I said, with as much firmness as I could.

She pouted, withdrawing her hands and sitting up. "You're no fun."

As my breathing returned to normal, I told her. "There is _no_ way you are sleeping here. If my mom finds out, she'll flip. Besides, what about your parents?"

She rolled her eyes. "My parents love me, but they honestly don't care that much as long as I tell them I'm going somewhere."

"But still, my mom..."

"Oh, quit making excuses, Aaron." She scowled. "Your mom is almost never home, and I think she'd be glad to find a girl here, anyway. Maybe she'll take it as a sign that her son finally grew some balls and asked a girl out. I'm staying here, and that's final. Oh, and I brought someone along."

She reached behind her, and produced a stuffed animal that looked like it came from the same kind of place as Run-Over Buck; it was a squirrel with a hole in the middle of its forehead and its intestines were hanging out, much like Run-Over Buck's.

"Hello!" The squirrel said in Japanese, standing up and bowing. "Pleased to make your acquaintance! I'm Shot to Death Squirrel. I serve Mistress Amy as amessenger."

"So are all the messengers dead stuffed animals like you?" I questioned.

"Strictly speaking, we're called Entrails Animals, but yes, we're all like this, Aaron-san!" It responded politely. I looked at Amy.

"How do you know Japanese?"

"Rosetta Stone." She told me instantly. "People say it's overrated, but trust me, it works."

I shrugged, supposing it was as good a reason as any. "I like you," I told Shot to Death Squirrel. "Can I call you SDS?"

"Of course, Aaron-san." It consented. I smiled.

"You're very polite." I said, glancing at Run-Over Buck. "Unlike _someone_ I know."

Buck just huffed and looked away. "I tell it like it is, that's all."

"So..." I turned back to Amy, sighing in defeat. "You can have the guest bedroom."

She frowned. "Oh no, _Medea_, you own a queen-sized bed. There's more than enough room in it, wouldn't you say?"

"_What?!_" I exclaimed. "You honestly expect me to let you sleep in the same bed as me after..."

"After what, Medea?" She purred, pressing herself against my arm and grabbing it. I flushed again as I felt her chest press against my arm. It wasn't as big as my own, but it wasn't small, that was for sure. "Besides, we're two _girls_, who are both _straight_."

I didn't even want to think about why she emphasized those two words. I merely flopped on my side in defeat.

"I'm taking a nap." I said, resigned, and closed my eyes.

_**Kampfer**_

Things actually went pretty well, even with Amy in the same bed. When I woke up, she was still asleep, and I'd already transformed back. I got up quietly, making sure not wake her or the two "Entrails Animals."

Creeping upstairs, I ate a small breakfast, glancing at the clock. It was 8:00 A.M., really early for me to wake up on a Saturday. I took my pills, then headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

I let the warm water wash over me, helping me forget all about being a Kampfer and the troubles I had on top of that.

I was halfway through my shower when I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Aaron?" Amy asked. She sounded almost... normal. "May I come in?"

I thought about it for a moment, then responded, blushing. "As long as you don't try to peek." I told her.

The door opened, and Amy came in, seating herself on the toilet. I peeked around the edge of the shower curtain, looking at her.

"Was there something you needed to talk about?" I questioned. She laughed nervously.

"...Yeah. About last night..." She began hesitantly. I raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. I was a bit too forward, assuming you'd automatically allow me to stay with you, and doing... _that_." She apologized. I was surprised at this.

"Don't sweat it." I told her. "It's better if we stick together anyway, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Anyway, I'm going to let you shower in peace now." She got up and walked out, closing the door behind her. I sighed in relief.

_She apologizes about being too forward while in the same room as me as I'm taking a shower..._

Finishing my shower, I got dressed and found Amy sitting in the living room, reading a book titled _Modern Sword Techniques_.

"I'm going out." I told her. She turned the page.

"Okay. I should be able to sense if another Kampfer appears from here. I'll be ready." She responded.

"I'm off." I said, putting on my shoes and exiting the house.

It was already quite hot outside, signaling how close it was to summer. The next week would be the last week of school, something I was grateful for.

I walked to Jordan's house, same as last time. I knocked, and he opened the door after a small wait.

"Hey man, I called you yesterday, and I got some chick named Medea, said she was your cousin. Is it true?" He asked. I nodded.

"She's here in Muskegon for the weekend." I lied. "She's from Lansing."

"Ah. Well, you ready?" He questioned, grabbing a basketball from a stand he keeps it on by the door.

Same as last time, we talked about little things; homework amount, exams, the last week of school, stuff like that. When we reached the court, we played basketball for a good two hours before stopping. He won, twenty-nine to twenty-four.

As we laid in the grass, I looked at him. "Hey man, good game." I panted.

"Same to you." He responded, and we fell silent for a while, laying in the grass.

"You see that video of the two chicks fighting near the car crash last Saturday?" He asked, breaking the silence. I shook my head, knowing exactly which two "chicks" he meant.

"No." I lied. "Never saw anything."

He shrugged. "Shame, they were both really hot. One even used something like a magic trick to hit the other one in the stomach."

I thought about my Zauber, quite a bit stronger than just a magic trick. It was apparently solidified shadows, however the hell that was possible. Amy told me once that being hit by it made her feel vulnerable and even a little scared.

"So, you ready to head back?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna go visit Ethan's house." He told me.

"Ah. Well, tell him hello for me. I'm gonna get cleaned up and take a small nap." I responded. He gave me a thumbs up.

"I'll tell him. Catch you later."

"Later."

I stood up, leaving him laying there and walking back to my house, quite happy.

"I'm back." I called, opening the front door and stepping in.

"Welcome home." Amy said from the couch, looking like she hadn't moved. "Did the other Kampfer appear?"

"No luck." I shook my head. "However, I did lose for the millionth time to Jordan, so all is as it should be."

She gave a small laugh. "You guys are really good friends, aren't you?"

"Not friends." I corrected, grinning. "At this point, we're brothers."

I forgot that if things continued like they were, we wouldn't be brothers for much longer.

_**Kampfer**_

My weekend and the following Monday and Tuesday went well, so well that I almost forgot about being a Kampfer. I was in the middle of my fifth hour Geography class when it happened.

I was falling asleep, barely listening to the lecture we were being given; I knew all this already. My eyes were starting to close when I heard the explosion. Soon after, the fire alarm started ringing, and I heard the sound of people panicking in the hallway.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YA, BITCH?! I'LL FIND YA AND GIVE YA A NEW ASSHOLE IN THAT BIG FAT ASS OF YOURS!" A familiar voice shouted, followed by the sound of gunfire. The classroom was in chaos at this point, and my bracelet was beginning to flash.

_Of all the times..._ I thought in frustration, pushing my way out the classroom door and into the hallway, where throngs of students were running away from a familiar blue-haired girl holding an M16. She was wearing the same clothes as last time, and I could clearly see a blue bracelet on her wrist.

Cussing, I ducked into the girls' bathroom and let myself transform before coming out and pushing past the students, heading towards the girl.

In about ten minutes, everyone was gone except for the two of us. The fire alarm rang loudly and the emergency sprinklers were pouring water on us.

"So there ya are, ya fuckin' slut! I been lookin' for ya, ya know?" The girl smirked, aiming her gun at me. I tensed.

"Wait, I don't want to fight you-" I began, but I was interrupted as she opened fire. The narrow hallway didn't give me very much room to dodge, so one of her bullets grazed my shoulder, ripping my blouse and making a small cut. I winced.

"Too late, bitch!" She laughed insanely. "I'm gonna teach ya what a fuckin' bullet can do to a human body, especially the body of a whore like you!"

She sent another spray of gunfire at me, and I outstretched my hand, focusing for a second before letting go.

The ball of magic seemingly absorbed her bullets, catching her right in the chest and knocking her over.

"Now ya've pissed me off, shithead! Time to learn the meanin' of pain, slut!" She glared at me, standing up. Despite her toughness, I noticed that her cheeks looked a little pale, and I grinned.

_So it really does scare them a little._

After the next volley, she had to change her magazine, and I closed in and put my palm on her forehead, stopping her before she could fire another bullet.

"Checkmate." I said, then felt her press the barrel of her gun into my ribs.

"Oh really, bitch?" She smirked.

Suddenly, I heard a sound I'd come to know all too well over the past week and a half; the sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"Yeah, really." Amy said, leveling the tip of her katana at the back of the girl's neck.

_**Kampfer**_

**A/N: So, how'd you guys like this for a first chapter? Was it good? Bad? So horrible you felt like tearing your own intestines out and strangling yourself with them?**

**...What? Too far?**

**Anyway, I'm on a Kampfer kick at the moment, as you can probably tell! I'll get back around to Alduin's Bane and Forever, My Love, eventually, but I'm telling you right now; it probably won't be anytime soon, unfortunately.**

**This was honestly one big spurt of inspiration. I wrote this in about three hours, revised it in one. It may seem kind of rushed, but the Kampfer style of storytelling, once you really look at the light novels, skips all over the place. I hope you liked it, and don't forget to review.**

**Seriously, I live off of those things...**


	2. Chapter 2

_Kampfer: Refocused_

_Chapter 2_

The girl grimaced. "Tch. I guess I don't gotta choice, do I? Just fuckin' kill me."

"Oh, we're not going to. No, we'd like to ask a favor, in return for letting you live." Amy said smoothly.

"Fuck you." The girl spat in my face. I recoiled, disgusted and angry.

"Look, bitch." I grabbbed her by the shirt. "I've put up with a _lot_ of shit in the past week and a half. I've turned into a girl, been forced into a war that has nothing to do with me, and had the shit beaten out of me every day after school. I _really_ don't want to put up with your fucking attitude!" My other hand formed a fist.

The girl looked me in the eyes for a few moments, then suddenly broke out in a grin, something sparking in her eyes.

"I'll do this favor of yours, bitch. What do you want?"

"We want to organize a peace treaty between red and blue. We want to figure out why we have to fight."

The girl looked dumbfounded. "...Could ya run that by me again? I ain't sure I heard you right."

I sighed. "Yes, you did. We want to call a temporary truce and figure out why we've all been dragged into this. I'm sure you want to know too, right?"

She tilted her head to one side, then the other, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then, she asked, "Do ya think we'll get to fight whoever's makin' us Kampfers?"

"I'm almost certain." Amy replied.

The girl shrugged. "Ah, what the hell do I have to lose? I'm with ya, as long as ya don't fuckin' cross me."

I exhaled in relief, letting her shirt go. Amy, likewise, sheathed her katana, but I couldn't help but notice the slightly doubtful expression she wore, as well as the fact that her hand kept drifting back towards the handle of her weapon every so often.

The girl's gun disappeared, and she put her hands on her hips, looking about. "Eh, maybe I'm gettin' a bit paranoid, but don't both of ya think we _might_ not wanna stay here?" She asked nervously, as the fire that had been just a tiny flame in the corner began to consume the other end of the hallway. As if on cue, police, ambulance, and firetruck sirens could be heard in the distance.

The three of us whirled around, ready to run out through the other hallway, only to see that it was now blocked by rubble from the explosion.

I didn't have to be a mind-reader to know what all three of us were thinking at that moment.

_Oh crap._

We backed up against each other, thinking hard and looking frantically for an exit.

"We could take the windows." Amy suggested. I looked at her doubtfully.

"But the fall from the third floor is... a bit high." I pointed out. She returned my look.

"Do you _want_ to be burned alive?"

"Good point."

We rushed into a nearby classroom, and I shattered the window by kicking it, wincing as a shard of glass sliced open my leg.

I looked at Amy hopelessly. "...Amy?"

"...Yes?"

There was a small silence, during which the girl looked between us cluelessly.

"...This is gonna hurt a lot, isn't it?"

"...Yeah."

With that, I half-limped, half-ran towards the window frame, focusing and praying to God that what I was thinking worked.

I closed my eyes as I jumped, releasing the focused energy after about two seconds.

The impact was hard, but I didn't break anything, and only got a few minor bruises, thanks to my magic, which I had used as a fall-breaker. I barely had time to focus my strength again and catch the girl, who was much lighter than I thought she would be. Still, even with my magic strengthening my arms, her weight came close to breaking them.

I knew I couldn't keep it up for Amy, but I focused anyway and took a deep breath.

It hurt.

A lot.

Amy and the girl were both fine, only recieving a few scratches. However, when I caught Amy, there was an audible snap, followed by my left wrist exploding with pain and going limp, causing me to let go of Amy.

I could barely see through the pain, and could only half-notice Amy and the girl supporting me as we headed for the woods.

_**Kampfer**_

I must have passed out, because the next thing I knew, I was in my own bed, my wrist and leg bandaged neatly and my body male once more. There was moonlight coming through the window, making everything in its shaft glow slightly.

When I fully came around, I noticed two things; one, I was only in my underwear. Two, there were two girls in my room.

My face lit up like a fire. Amy was sound asleep next to me, and the girl was sitting on my stool for my keyboard, wearing headphones, presumably listening to music, her back turned to me.

For some reason, she hadn't changed back yet.

I quietly got out of bed without her noticing, leaning on my uninjured leg and managing to pull some jeans and a t-shirt on. I limped over to her, poking her lightly, despite knowing it was a bit rude.

She finally noticed me, and took her headphones off, reaching into her pocket and switching off whatever was playing the music.

"Ya finally woke up, eh?" She grinned, talking quietly. "It's about time. She was startin' to worry about ya." She nodded at Amy's sleeping form.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"About a day. I don't blame ya, though. Your wrist was eighty-six different kinds of fucked up, ya know? We nearly puked fixin' it."

"...I could've gone without that info..."

Ignoring me, she continued, crossing her arms. "Man, I never would have thought you were a guy. I thought that when that dumb animal said Kampfers are always girls, it meant that they were _always_ girls. Makes me wonder how a guy can transform into a beauty most girls would be jealous of."

"...Thanks?" I tilted my head. "Um... why haven't you changed back yet?"

She looked away, suddenly seeming a bit depressed. "Well... I can't."

"What do you mean, 'can't?'" I questioned. She showed me her wrist, where her bracelet was. It was the same as mine, except it was blue, and it was cracked slightly.

"It still lets me fight, but I can't control it. I change randomly."

"So do I, but Amy can control hers." I told her. "As for me, usually I change back when I fall asleep, or when I'm tired. Maybe it's not your bracelet, it's that you can't control it yet."

"Ya could be right..." She said, but she still looked doubtful. "I wonder how she does it." She glanced at Amy. I shrugged.

"She says she just has to want to change, and it does it for her."

"So she just kinda thinks, 'I feel like fightin,' and she activates it?"

"I guess so."

There was a small silence between us, before I ventured to ask, "What's your name?"

"...Elizabeth Surlan." She murmured. "You're Aaron, right?"

"Elizabeth Surlan..." I thought aloud. "Uh... You're a freshman, right?"

She nodded.

"Your accent isn't as bad now." I noticed.

"I just do it for fun, ya know?" She smiled. "It's kinda fun to talk this way."

"So why all the cursing?"

"Um, that's just habit, I guess. When I get in tense situations, I tend to curse a lot."

"I guess that makes sense." I shrugged again. "So, I take it you don't know any other blue Kampfers?"

"Not really... I've never met another Kampfer, besides the both of ya. Which is a little bit weird, considerin' that we're all so close to each other."

"...That's true." I agreed, then added hopefully, "Maybe we're the only three in the area."

Elizabeth gave me a look that clearly said what I had just suggested was insane.

"I don't think they would have made just the three of us Kampfers if they really wanted us to fight." She said clearly, forgoing the fake accent entirely. I sighed heavily.

"...I know..."

"So how are we gonna find out why we have to fight?" She asked, after a long pause.

"Uh... about that..." I began weakly. She rolled her eyes.

"You've got no clue, have you?" She sighed. I smiled pathetically.

"Not... not really..." I admitted.

There was a long pause.

Poke.

I barely had time to think before I felt the transformation wash over me, my clothes morphing into some more female-appropriate ones (specifically, jeans and a tank top), and my body going through the usual slightly painful process of changing genders.

When I had finished my transformation, I glared at Elizabeth, saying, "I'll get you for this."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She brushed me off, studying my female body in interest, a somewhat displeased look on her face.

Another poke came, this time aimed clearly at my chest, which bounced up and down slightly.

This was followed by Elizabeth slamming her head against my wall, groaning. "You haven't been wearing a bra, have you?"

"No...?" I answered uncertainly.

SMACK.

"What the hell was that for?" I exclaimed, rubbing my cheek, which was now reddening rapidly. Elizabeth raised two fingers.

"Two reasons." She said. "One, your chest is bigger than mine, which is unfair, because I'm the one who's actually a girl here. Two, you've been staining and degrading the image of decency of girls everywhere by not wearing a bra. Tommorow, we're going to get you measured and fitted."

As my brain processed what she had just said, a look of dread washed over my face. "You don't mean..."

She nodded, smiling grimly.

"I'm going to turn you into a girl."

_**Kampfer**_

"Oh god." I said aloud, flushing a bright red as Elizabeth forced me to look at my nearly-nude female body in the mirror.

"Get used to it." She said commandingly. "I'll go get someone to measure you."

_No! No! No! My pride as a man is at stake here!_

_...Who the hell am I kidding?_ I thought despairingly. _My "pride as a man" was lost a long time ago..._

I covered my face with my hands as I heard the sound of the door closing behind me.

"Are you Miss Nurall?" An unfamiliar voice asked. I gave a small nod as I felt two arms reach around me... you know what, I'd rather not tell you what happened here.

You're welcome, girls.

Once the woman had finished, she exited the small dressing room, coming back a few minutes later with some various undergarments for me. The next hour and a half was the most uncomfortable time of my life.

_**Kampfer**_

"Great." I groaned, slumping onto a table in the mall's food court as Amy and Elizabeth ate their pizza. "I won't ever be able to pass by that store again without getting uncomfortable. Not to mention that assistant most likely thinks I'm a complete idiot now."

"Cheer up." Amy said calmly. "It could be w... actually, no, you're right."

I took a moment to glare at her. She shrugged.

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"Whatever." I sighed, looking up at the sky through the skylights in the mall's ceiling.

_Hm. Maybe I'm just tired, but is that plane getting closer?_

_Wait-_

_Fuck, that's not a plane...!_

_That thing's on fire!_

My body moved on its own. Before the flaming object could even crash through the ceiling, I had moved to the center of the food court (where they had a children's play area), thrusting my hands upwards.

As my Zauber erupted from my palms, the fiery object smashed through the ceiling, raining glass down and ramming against my shield.

"MOVE THE CHILDREN! TAKE THEM AND RUN!" I screamed, as the thing began drilling into my shield.

The mall went to absolute hell. Mall patrols began radioing in for police reinforcements, parents grabbed their screaming and crying children and ran with them, and people panicked as they tried to force their way out the doors.

Just as the fire was about to shatter my shield and burn my skin, I released a wave of energy and pushed the thing back, slamming it into a wall on the far side of the food court.

The flames receded to reveal, to my eternal despair, a girl.

Her hair was a shining emerald green, her eyes a glaring orange. She wore a black hoodie and jeans, and a Kampfer bracelet shone on her wrist. Unlike Elizabeth's, Amy's, and mine, though, hers was a bright white.

I coughed from the smoke and debris, doubling over in pain and panting. My wrist hadn't even fully healed yet, and I had channeled enough energy through it to power a small city. Naturally, it felt like I had cut my hand off, the pain was so intense. Not to mention my lungs screamed in protest with all the smoke I was breathing in.

I heard a volley of gunshots, signaling the Elizabeth and Amy had finally taken action. A short sword appeared in the girl's hands, and her movements were so fast that it wasn't until I heard the rattling clink of metal hitting the ground that I realized she had sliced the bullets in half. I felt a surge of panic.

_Oh fuck. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! She's on a whole new level entirely!_ I thought frantically, still unable to move because of my pain.

"Medea! Are you there?!" Amy's voice shouted through the smoke, which was thickening rapidly to the point that I couldn't see twenty feet ahead.

"Y-yeah!" I coughed hard, some blood coming up this time. My lungs couldn't take much more of this.

It's not that I'm slow. It's not that I have bad defense. It's just that what happened next happened so fast that I was against a wall, my back feeling like it had been ripped open by a chainsaw, being held up by the girl by the throat, before I could even realize I was being attacked.

"Hear my words, Aaron Johnson." The girl's voice was soft and melodic, but cold, emotionless. I could barely hear what she was saying through my pain. Her grip on my throat tightened.

"You are making a grave mistake. Do not defy us. If you continue with your foolish actions, you will be killed."

The way her words had been spoken, in that soft, gentle voice of hers, only made them more terrifying.

"Who... are you?!" I managed to choke. Her eyes narrowed.

"Just a soldier. I'll say it again; stop your idiotic defiance, or I will kill you, here and now."

What I did next wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I knew I couldn't give up. Not after getting to meet Elizabeth, realizing that she didn't have any more a reason to fight than we did. Not after this woman, claiming to be just a soldier, had attempted to kill over two hundred people, including children, just to make sure we kept fighting their silly war.

I took a deep breath (difficult, with her hand around my neck)...

...And slammed my uninjured hand into her face, discharging enough energy into her body to blow up a tank.

She released me, stumbling back and coughing up blood, then wiping it from her mouth. As I was heaving, trying to catch my breath, I heard the unmistakable metallic _shing_ of a sword being unsheathed.

I laid there, speechless, her sword through my stomach, unable to move. The sounds of the world around me were muffled, fading in and out of a buzzing in my ears. She kneeled over me, her deep, orange eyes staring into mine with an emotion like sadness. There was, too, a sadness in her voice as she spoke to me.

"I am sorry, young Aaron. I was once like you, seeking the truth. The least I can do is explain it to you before you die." Her voice was the only thing that existed, the only reality that was real, echoing in my ears and mind, wrapping around my body and making my vision dark.

_"Long ago, in a place where war was unending, two forces clashed in a bloody, pointless battle."_

As her voice spoke, two flames appeared in the darkness, one red, the other blue.

_"The two sides fought and fought, countless soldiers dying, countless cities leveled to dust."_

The two flames consumed my vision, their inside becoming visions of a type that I'd never imagined in my worst nightmares.

_"People killed by the hundreds of thousands."_

Corpses, littered everywhere, two armies killing each other in beastly, inhumane ways too gruesome to describe. Buildings, toppling and exploding. Cities, literally consumed until there was nothing left. Innocent people, men, women, children, even babies, massacred brutally. And most of all...

_"Blood, pouring like rain."_

The blood.

The stench of it was everywhere, inescapable. It formed rivers, streaming through destroyed structures, eroding them to nothing, sweeping me away until I could see, hear, taste, feel, and smell nothing but blood.

_"Finally, _they_ decided it had to stop."_

Just as I felt I was going to drown in the iron tide of red, my vision went white. The two flames reappeared, this time seperated by a large white barrier that, no matter how they tried, they could not break through.

_"So the ones who decided to stop it, calling themselves the Moderators, reached an agreement with both sides that a special group of people from somewhere far away would be chosen to fight in their place."_

My vision faded back into reality, the girl still kneeling over me, tears now in her eyes.

"I did not want this." She whispered. "Nobody wanted this. But if red and blue don't fight, billions will die. Because that's their will, we cannot disobey, no matter how much we hate it, or how hard we try."

The pain was starting to consume my senses. I couldn't smell or taste the smoke now. Even the buzzing in my ears was beginning to fade into the sound of my heartbeat as the girl moved her mouth, but no words came out. Black and white crept into my vision. My entire body felt like it was on fire, but I couldn't do anything.

The girl was saying something, but I couldn't understand.

_Thump-thump... thump-thump..._

She was sobbing now, and I wondered why. I was her enemy, after all.

_Thump-thump... thump-thump..._

I vaguely thought that **such a beautiful face** shouldn't be stained with** such ugly tears**.

_Thump, thump... thump, thump..._

Her face. She really should **stop crying**. It was **painful to watch**.

_Thump. Thump._

She was **beginning to fade away**.

_Thump... thump..._

**Everything** was** turning **a** really bright white.**

_Thump... thummph..._

**Was I dying?**

_Thummphsh._

**Would I **really** die** **without** **beating Jordan at basketball?**

_...sh..._

**Without **ever **getting a girlfriend?**

_...sh..._

**Without** **getting to develop a**n industry-changing **video game I'd always dreamed of?**

_...sh..._

**Without** **serving twenty years in the USMC**, and** fighting to keep everyone** at home** safe?**

_...sss..._

**Without** even experiencing **my first kiss?**

_..._

__**And...**

_..._

**Without telling**... Amy **how I feel?**

**I **really **had expected my death to be **more... **fulfilling**.

_..._

Did I ever... **in the end**... **did I make the world **even **a...** slightly **better place...?**

_..._

**Was my... li...fe... m..e...a...n...i...n...g...l...e...s...s...?**


End file.
